Virtusa, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering, and IT services and solutions, successfully concluded the Code to Cloud: DevOps with AWS training program, followed by an ambitious 98-minute AWS Rush Hour hackathon challenge in partnership with the University of Peradeniya (UOP) recently. With the world heralding the era of cloud computing, Virtusa ensured participating members of the Computer Society of UOP are equipped with the knowledge and skillset to aid them in gaining an advantage in the highly competitive IT job market at the conclusion of this training programme.
“Today, everything in the digital world is connected to the cloud in some way or another, and cloud computing has become a critical part of the IT industry,” Indika Wimalasuriya – Senior Systems Engineering Manager, Managed Services elaborated on the training programme. “According to Forbes, spending by businesses worldwide on cloud computing is forecast to top US$ 1 trillion for the first time in 2024[1], a global market trend that has directly contributed to an escalating demand for cloud computing professionals in the industry. As the most sought-after employer by fresh IT graduates in the country, we at Virtusa understand the role we must play in equipping these students with the necessary training and knowledge, so that they can explore such high demand job prospects in the immediate future.”
The 15-hour training programme was broken down into 10 individual sessions, and hosted remotely by a specialist tech panel from Virtusa Sri Lanka comprising Indika Wimalasuriya, who was joined by Kapila Sanjeewa – Associate Engineering Manager, Digital Engineering; Milinda Nandasena – Software Engineer – Managed Services; and Mohan Tharanga Edirisinghe – Senior Lead Software Engineer – Managed Services. The training programme was carried out as part of Virtusa’s Campus Reach initiative – an industry-academia partnership designed to carry out immersive student engagements such as visitations, internships and mentoring among other activities, with an overarching objective to meet future IT talent needs of Sri Lanka. Anniston Leo – Associate Consultant – Campus Hiring SL represented the Campus Reach initiative and supported the tech team in facilitating the training programme.
The training series covered key aspects of modern software development, where participants were provided with insights into DevOps principles, enabling them to explore diverse software architectures including serverless, and receive hands-on experience with AWS and Kubernetes. The program also delved into Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Amazon CloudFormation, microservices development, and deployment with AWS tools, as well as CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins. The journey concluded with an exploration of serverless computing through AWS Lambda. This program equipped participants with the knowledge and experience needed to seamlessly transition code from development to the cloud.
With the conclusion of the training program, Virtusa organized assessments for the undergraduates, providing them with hands-on experience to address real-world problems. Following this, a hackathon titled “AWS Rush Hour: The 98-minute Challenge” was conducted on the university premises. The hackathon was a remarkable success; program participants were given an opportunity to meet their Virtusa specialist trainers in person, network, and more importantly, gain valuable industry insights.
To mark the conclusion of this initiative, an award ceremony was held, during which Virtusa presented certificates to individuals who successfully completed the training program. Certificates were also conferred upon the winners of the hackathon during an award ceremony, which was graciously attended by Prof. Saluka R. Kodituwakku, Senior Professor of Statistics and Computer Science at the University of Peradeniya. Prof. Kodituwakku expressed his gratitude to Team Virtusa, acknowledging their commitment and efforts in supporting young talent to thrive in their future careers. He deeply appreciated the individuals who dedicated their time and expertise to the event, ensuring that aspiring students received the guidance necessary to navigate their career paths successfully.
Sahan Kodituwakku – President of the Computer Society of UOP – eagerly anticipating further collaborations of this nature, went on to express his gratitude to Virtusa’s Campus Reach Team and facilitators for providing the undergrads with a valuable opportunity to explore the latest technologies and their applications in real-life projects.
The participants too, expressed their gratitude for the experience and exposure received during the program. “What stood out the most was the quality of guidance provided during the sessions. The instructors were knowledgeable and approachable, making it easy to grasp complex concepts,” Darshana Thamara stated, while Viranga Jayawardana emphasized on the training benchmark maintained by Virtusa, saying “The comprehensive content and well-structured sessions were incredibly informative and valuable, and the session materials were well-prepared and easy to follow, making it an enriching learning experience. I greatly appreciate the effort put into organizing this workshop and the depth of knowledge shared throughout the event.”
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/10/09/the-10-biggest-cloud-computing-trends-in-2024-everyone-must-be-ready-for-now/?sh=f9206b966d67#:~:text=Worldwide%2C%20spending%20by%20businesses%20on,artificial%20intelligence%20(AI)%20services.
